Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
Newberry Honor

CHARLOTTE’S WEB Copyright@ 1952 by E. B. White Text copyright@ renewed 1980 by E. B. White Illustrations copyright renewed 1980 by Garth Williams

Chapter 1 Before Breakfast

“WHERE’S Papa going with that ax?” said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast. “Out to the hoghouse,” replied Mrs. Arable. “Some pigs were born last night.” “I don’t see why he needs an ax,” continued Fern, who was only eight.

“Well,” said her mother, “one of the pigs is a runt. It’s very small and weak, and it will never amount to anything. So your father has decided to do away with it.” White, pg. 1.

Note: Excellent First Lines
Great Example of Show Don’t Tell!

“The grass was wet and the earth smelled of springtime. Fern’s sneakers were sopping by the time she caught up. with her father.” White, pg. 1.

Great Example of Show Don’t Tell! Shoes were sopping wet.

Springtime – Introduces the Theme of The Seasons in Literature.

“The kitchen table was set for breakfast, and the room smelled of coffee, bacon, damp plaster, and wood smoke from the stove.” White, pg. 3

EXCELLENT DESCRIPTIVE WRITING

“There, inside, looking up at her, was the newborn pig. It was a white one.”

Theme Springtime as the Season of New Beginning. White symbolizes purity, innocence, and also light–as opposed to darkness.”

“…I only distribute pigs to early risers,” said Mr. Arable. “F em was up at daylight, trying to rid the world of injustice. As a result, she now has a pig. A small one, to be sure, but nevertheless a pig. It just shows what can happen if a person gets out of bed promptly.” White, pg. 5

Theme: Light vs. Darkness – 
Wake Up – Don’t Sleep Your Life Away. Sleep represents lack of light.

Chapter II Wilbur

“F ERN loved Wilbur more than anything. She loved to stroke him, to feed him, to put him to bed. Every morning, as soon as she got up, she warmed his milk, tied his bib on, and held the bottle for him.” White, pg. 8

Tell +Show – Text Shows how Fern loved Wilbur.

“Next day Wilbur was taken from his home under the apple tree and went to live in a manure pile in the cellar of Zuckerman’s barn.” White, pg. 13

Like in the Secret Garden, Wilbur is taken from him home of origin to another home. Home is anothr theme in Charlotte’s Web.

Chapter Ill Escape

“THE BARN was very large. It was very old. It smelled of hay and it smelled of manure. It smelled of the perspiration of tired horses and the wonderful sweet breath of patient cows. It often had a sort of peaceful smell-as though nothing bad could happen ever again in the world. It smelled of grain and of harness dressing and of axle grease and of rubber boots and of new rope. And whenever the cat was given a fish-head to eat, the barn would smell of fish. But mostly it smelled of hay, for there was always hay in the great loft up overead. And there was always hay being pitched down to the cows and the horses and the sheep. The barn was pleasantly warm in winter when the animals spent most of their time indoors, and it was pleasantly cool in summer when the big doors stood wide open to the breeze. The bam had stalls on the main floor for the work horses, tie-ups on the main floor for the cows, a sheepfold down below for the sheep, a pigpen down below for Wilbur, and it was full of all sorts of things that you find in barns: ladders, grindstones, pitch forks, monkey wrenches, scythes, lawn mowers, snow shovels, ax handles, milk pails, water buckets, empty grain sacks, and rusty rat traps. It was the kind of barn that swallows like to build their nests in. It was the kind of barn that children like to play in. And the whole thing was owned by Fern’s uncle, Mr. Horner L. Zuckerman.” White, pgs. 13 – 14

Unbelievable Great Description. I can see the barn, smell it, taste it, and above all else, I can feel it.

“But he never had any fun–no walks, no rides, no swims. One afternoon in June, when Wilbur was almost two months old, he wandered out into his small yard outside the barn. Fern had not arrived for her usual visit. Wilbur stood in the sun feeling lonely and bored. “There’s never anything to do around here,” he thought. He walked slowly to his food trough and sniffed to see if anything had been overlooked at lunch. He found a small strip of potato skin and ate it. His back itched, so he leaned against the fence and rubbed against the boards. When he tired of this, he walked indoors, climbed to the top of the manure pile,and sat down. He didn’t feel like going to sleep, he didn’t feel like digging, he was tired of standing still, tired of lying down. “I’m less than two months old and I’m tired of living,” he said. He walked out to the yard agatn. “\Vhen I’m out here,” he said, “there’s no place to go but in. When I’m indoors, there’s no place to go but out in the yard. ”

“That’s where you’re wrong, my friend, my friend,” said a voice.” White, pg.16.

“One afternoon in June – Wilbur has moved to the summer of his life. He was born in April. In April, he was spring, but in June, he had become summer. And he had moved into a season of discontent,

“Wilbur looked through the fence and saw the goose standing there. “You don’t have to stay in that dirty-little dirtylittle dirty-little yard,” said the goose, who talked rather fast. “One of the boards is loose. Push on it, push-push-push on it, and come on out!” White, pg. 17.

Wilbur feels as though he is trapped in a cage.

‘Wilbur walked up to the fence and saw that the goose was right–one board was loose. He put his head down, shut his eyes, and pushed. The board gave way. In a minute he had squeezed through the fence and was standing in the long grass outside his yard. The goose chuckled. “How does it feel to be free?” she asked. “I like it,” said Wilbur. “That is, I guess I like it.” Actually, Wilbur felt queer to be outside his fence, with nothing between him and the big world.” White, pg. 17

Wilbur is free, but he is confused by his freedom. The goose advises him:

“Go down through the orchard, root up the sod! Go down through the garden, dig up the radishes! Root up everything! Eat grass! Look for corn! Look Charlotte’s Web for oats! Run all over! Skip and dance, jump and prance! Go down through the orchard and stroll in the woods! The world is a wonderful place when you’re young.” “I can see that,” replied Wilbur.”

” He gave a jump in the air, twirled, ran a few steps, stopped, looked all around, sniffed the smells of afternoon, and then set off walking down through the orchard. Pausing in the shade of an apple tree, he put his strong snout into the ground and began pushing, digging, and rooting. He felt very happy. He had plowed up quite a piece of ground before anyone noticed him.” White, pgs. 17-18.

[The people realize that Wilbur has escapted, and they begin to hase him:

“The goose heard the racket and she, too, started hollering. “Run-run-run downhill, make for the woods, the woods!” she shouted to Wilbur. “They’ll never-never-never catch you in the woods.” White, pg. 18.

The Wood — or Nature as a Healer — Majore Literary Theme.

The Chase after Wilbur reminds me of Cynthia Rylant’s picture book The Great Gracie Chase, which was published in 2001. I feel sure that Rylant was influenced by White’s Charlotte’s Web, which was published in 1952. Cynthia Rylant has been a masterful kid lit writer. I do not say this to detract from Rylant. I am reiterating the fact that writers need to fill their arsenals with great literature that came before them:

Chapter IV Loneliness

“THE NEXT day was rainy and dark. Rain fell on the roof of the bam and dripped steadily from the eaves. Rain fell in the barnyard and ran in crooked courses down into the lane where thistles and pigweed grew. Rain spattered against .Mrs. Zuckerman’s kitchen windows and came gushing out of the downspouts. Rain fell on the backs of the sheep as they grazed in the meadow. When the sheep tired of standing in the rain, they walked slowly up the lane and into the fold. Rain upset Wilbur’s plans. Wilbur had planned to go out, this day, and dig a new hole in his yard. He had other plans, too. His plans for the day went something like this: Breakfast at six-thiny. Skim milk, crusts, middlings, bits of doughnuts, wheat cakes with drops of maple syrup sticking to them, potato skins, leftover custard pudding with raisins, and bits of Shredded Wheat.” White, pg. 25..

‘THE NEXT day was rainy and dark.’

Darkness is a Major Literary Theme–and so is Rain. Have you ever notice how very often filmmakers utilize rainy nights to accentuate the mystery of a scene?

‘Rain fell on the roof of the bam and dripped steadily from the eaves. Rain fell in the barnyard and ran in crooked courses down into the lane where thistles and pigweed grew. Rain spattered against .Mrs. Zuckerman’s kitchen windows and came gushing out of the downspouts. Rain fell on the backs of the sheep as they grazed in the meadow. When the sheep tired of standing in the rain, they walked slowly up the lane and into the fold.’

Excellent Description and Great Example of Show Don’t Tell.

“From eight to nine, Wilbur planned to take a nap outdoors in the sun.
“From nine to eleven he planned to dig a hole, or trench, and possibly find something good to eat buried in the dirt.
“From eleven to twelve he planned to stand still and watch flies on the boards, watch bees in the clover, and watch swallows in the air.
“Twelve o’clock-lunchtime. Middlings, warm water, apple parings, meat gravy, carrot scrapings, meat scraps, stale hominy, and the wrapper off a package of cheese. Lunch would be over at one.
“From one to two, Wilbur planned to sleep.
“From two to three, he planned to scratch itchy places by rubbing against the fence. From three to four, he planned to stand perfectly still and think of what it was like to be alive, and towait for Fern.
“At four would come supper. Skim milk, provender, leftover sandwich from Lurvy’s lunchbox, prune skins, a morsel of this, a bit of that, fried potatoes, marmalade drippings, a little more of this, a little more of that, a piece of baked apple, a scrap of upsidedown cake.” White, pg. 26.

When I read this brilliant use of a list, I immediately thought of the movie The Grnch, and use of a list there:

“Even if I wanted to go my schedule wouldn’t allow it.
4:00, wallow in self pity;
4:30, stare into the abyss;
5:00, solve world hunger, tell no one;
5:30, jazzercize;
6:30, dinner with me – I can’t cancel that again;
7:00, wrestle with my self-loathing…
I’m booked.”